Oxidative desulfurization in diesel via a titanium dioxide triggered thermocatalytic mechanism

TiO2 was prepared through a sol- gel method as the thermo- catalyst for oxidative desulfurization ( ODS), and H2O2 was selected as the oxidant. The morphology and structure of the catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy ( SEM), X- ray diffractometry ( XRD) and UV- vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, etc. Meanwhile, the effects of the reaction temperature ( T), molar ratio of H2O2/ DBT ( O/ S) and catalyst dosage were systematically investigated. The removal rate of DBT was 99.6% under optimal conditions. The thermocatalytic mechanism over TiO2 for oxidative desulfurization was also studied.